Joint press release from 榴莲视频 and the University of Bonn
These plants have potential: physalis, thorn apple and Withania somnifera, or so-called winter cherry, belong to the nightshade family. The three hold a special position within this family: they produce steroids called withanolides, which have been used in traditional herbal medicine for centuries. A research team led by Prof. Dr. Jakob Franke of 榴莲视频 (LUH) and Prof. Dr. Boas Pucker of the University of Bonn has now managed to decode how the steroids form in these plants. The findings could be used to develop new medications 鈥� for example, to treat cancer. The project, which runs until 2026, has received approximately 511,000 euros in funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG).
鈥淧lants often produce a cocktail of active substances,鈥� said Prof. Jakob Franke of the LUH Institute of Botany. This is no different for the plants investigated in the study. Some have anti-inflammatory properties, others are calming, and others display insecticidal qualities and can even repel pests. For example, winter cherry is known in traditional Ayurvedic medicine as ashwagandha and is believed to reduce stress and improve sleep.
To enable the more targeted application of the plants鈥� properties for specific uses, the researchers first decoded the gene sequence using methods from bioinformatics, which then allowed them to obtain information about the plants鈥� metabolic pathways. 鈥淭o do this, we compared the gene sequences of the withanolide-producing plants with those of other nightshade plants which do not produce withanolides,鈥� said Prof. Boas Pucker of the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Botany at the University of Bonn. The researchers identified an area of the genome that is responsible for the formation of these substances.
Building on this foundation, the researchers successfully replicated the first steps of the metabolic pathway in model organisms 鈥� in this case in baking yeast and in Nicotiana benthamiana, an Australian tobacco plant which is frequently used as a model plant in plant science. 鈥淪imilarly to using a Lego set, we use simple building blocks to replicate complex molecules in a step-by-step way,鈥� explained Professor Franke. 鈥淭his enables us to produce simple withanolide compounds in the model organisms.鈥�
The findings represent a milestone on the path to the further medicinal application of nightshade plants. They will now be incorporated into the project and are intended to form the basis for the complete identification of withanolides鈥� metabolic pathways.
Participating institutions:
In addition to the University of Bonn and LUH, TU Brauschweig and Tanta University in Egypt also participated in the study.
The project findings were recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications:
Hakim et al. (2025): Phylogenomics and metabolic engineering reveal a conserved gene cluster in Solanaceae plants for withanolide biosynthesis. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61686-1
Note to editors:
For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Jakob Franke, Institute of Botany at 榴莲视频 (tel. +49 511 762 2628, email: jakob.franke@botanik.uni-hannover.de).
